The predecessor of CUU was the Unitarian Universalists of Northwest Baltimore (UUNB). This congregation was called together in 1984/1985. The story of how a few dozen people from neighboring churches got together with local UU’s to found a new congregation is a story of dedicated volunteers and staff members taking risks, making investments in the future, and setting out on an adventure.
Although there may have been a meeting in December of 1984, Board meetings and worship started in January of 1985. From the beginning, they were planning a Fellowship Dinner, a Canvass, a budget process and an Annual Meeting. These are some of the democratic and fiscal policies that have helped CUU plan for growth.
On September 15, 1985, a Membership Register was signed by 19 members of UUNB. Here are 19 people who thought that they really could found a church, a church not based upon a creed, a new kind of religion, where the ideals of liberty and tolerance could serve as beacons for people to live by. Additionally, we shouldn’t fail to mention that each person in this religion had a voice, and you can see that in the fact that both men and women had a vote and had rights. This is a congregation, which, from the beginning, saw women on an equal footing with men in leadership.
In 1985, Alice Blair Wesley was the congregation’s consultant. In fact, her husband built the pulpit, still in use after two decades.
In a September 25, 1986 article in The Community Times of Reisterstown, one discovers that instead of moving closer to the Beltway, UUNB moved above a hardware store in Reisterstown. On August 20th, 1987, an article in the Community Times reportedthat Gary Gallun would be serving as part–time minister of UUNB. Week by week, service by service, UUNB grew over the five years that they were over the hardware store. Membership grew from about 30 to about 60. In 1992, Valerie Wills became UUNB’s Student “Extern” Minister.
In 1993, UUNB started a search for a building. Eventually, they found the current building. In June of 1994, UUNB moved to Club House Road and changed its name to Cedarhurst Unitarian Universalists. It was a time of hard work. Members created the Religious Education space down below. Bowling lanes were replaced by chairs and tables for children. Rev. Kerry Mueller arrived as minister. Although, there may have been some summer services, the date of the first main service of the year was September 11, 1994.
Rev. John Buehrens, President of the Unitarian Universalist Association, spoke at the dedication of the building on September 28, 1998. In 1998, Cedarhurst won the Eugene Pickett award for having doubled membership in five years.
In September 2001, Rev. Henry Simoni-Wastila started his tenure as CUU’s first full-time settled minister. Over the past years, we have continued to implement new programs and plans for the future. We invited Yoga, Tai Chi, earth-based religions and a drumming group into our community. We look forward to a bright future of our inclusive and tolerant form of religion.